Quicktime Export to iPod 320 x 240

With my antisipation building for the new video iPod, I am trying to convert (export) some of my quicktime movies to the correct size to fit the iPod. I am using the suggested export size in Quicktime Pro 7.0.3 (the "Movie to iPod (320 x 240")), but it is exporting at snail speed, sometimes even failing to export completely on short, 10 second clips. My goal is to export full length movies to the iPod, but right now this seems shady.

Anyone else experiencing these problems? Any suggestions on improving exporting speed or suggestions on how to actually sucessfully export a video?

Yea, I'm experiencing the same problems. Although I haven't gotten my iPod video yet, I'm already starting to get my video ready and in that resolution. I've already set up my EyeTV to record some things in 320x240, but I have a lot of existing material in a higher res.

I tried ripping a high resolution 2 hour long .avi file to 320x240 h264 overnight in Final Cut Pro, and in the morning it said it still had 5 days left, so I just cancelled it.

So... I'm also looking for a way to rip to iPod res... can anyone help us?

Does anybody else think that the video-enabled iPod is just a clever ploy by Apple to get Mac users to upgrade their computer hardware? It seems like it is surprising people just how much horsepower is needed to rip and encode video.

Does anybody else think that the video-enabled iPod is just a clever ploy by Apple to get Mac users to upgrade their computer hardware? It seems like it is surprising people just how much horsepower is needed to rip and encode video.

I enjoy a little conspiracy theory.

Hickman

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Not really... going back YEARS video encoding has always been 1-3x realtime for whatever is the "cutting edge" video codec. I've been doing encoding and it never seems to get any quicker over the years dispite the advances in hardware.

People, people. Lets not forget that the iPod can also decode MPEG4 video. Last time I checked, it was a great codec and non-CPU-rapist. Considering the iPod has 60GB of space, the increased video size resulting from an "old codec" is not much of a problem.

so for the new ipod, the video resolution has to be 320x watever it was? no more no less? shouldn't appele make an app specially to do this cause i can see this being a HUUUUGE dissappointment and hassle to do

the reason people here are having such a problem with the encoding process is that you are taking something that has already been incoded in another lossy type format, as opposed to direct from a vob file and such.

if you take an mpeg4 video and ask final cut to turn it into an h264 its going to turn that video in to a raw video file and then transcode it, not just go from mpeg4 to h264 directly...so yeah, its going to take forever. if you have commercial prodcut (movie or tv show) on your computer then it stands to reason that you might have the dvd lying around somewhere...Grab that and have handbreak encode it the right way from the getgo. Besides, going from avi, or mov to h264 would be like going from mp3 to aac....more loss.

thats my two cents, and it is only an observation, i do not rule out the fact that there are many things about file formats that i do not know.

i would like to add a question to this thread. I would like to encode some movies to the appropriate sizes direct from dvd. the video ipod has a max of 320x240 for h264 and that is the native size for the display as well. but on the info page at apple they say that the ipod can also play mpeg4 at a maximum of 480x480...so if i rip a movie that was in wide screen format is the ipod going to add the black bars itself or am i going to have to do that so as to not get a messed up picture? this could be great for some tv shows...but i am still trying to figure out some of the murky ground here...

I am using handbrake and when I am encoding to MP4, it stops at 1 second left with 100% done then freezes. Any ideas why? I have tried it 5 times, each time taking close to three hours and only once did it compleate. I am ripping it from the .VOB file on my computer or directly off the DVD. It doesn't seem to matter which one I try using.

I am using handbrake and when I am encoding to MP4, it stops at 1 second left with 100% done then freezes. Any ideas why? I have tried it 5 times, each time taking close to three hours and only once did it compleate. I am ripping it from the .VOB file on my computer or directly off the DVD. It doesn't seem to matter which one I try using.

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in my experience that last 1 second sometimes takes a long time. usually handbrake will finish the job, you just have to let it sit for awhile. i just run it overnight and it's done the next morning - even 2-pass h.264 jobs.

Yeah, it is the suck. I have been waiting for this rip to end forever now. Trying to encode a 2hr movie (Superman II) to the ipod. I don't have one just want to see how it looks on my tv before I buy one. Anyway its taking FOREVER, still isn't done.

i would like to add a question to this thread. I would like to encode some movies to the appropriate sizes direct from dvd. the video ipod has a max of 320x240 for h264 and that is the native size for the display as well. but on the info page at apple they say that the ipod can also play mpeg4 at a maximum of 480x480...so if i rip a movie that was in wide screen format is the ipod going to add the black bars itself or am i going to have to do that so as to not get a messed up picture? this could be great for some tv shows...but i am still trying to figure out some of the murky ground here...

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Okay, the 480 x 480 thing is kinda weird. I am pretty sure the limit is actually 480 x 480 pixels= 230,400. So if you want to rip a widescreen movie you can do 640 x 360 (which is actually exactly 230,400 as well), or adjust a bit so you're not over 230,400. For TV aspect ratio, you can't go as high as 640 pixels wide. I have successfully played 640 x 360 content on my iPod, so I know that works (not sure of exact y resolution, but it was pretty close- maybe 640 x 320).

You don't need to add black bars or anything like that, the iPod will display the content correctly. Let's say you rip a movie at 640 x 360. The iPod will show a letterbox image with proper proportions. You can also adjust the settings so it 'magnifies' the image so there are no black bars, but picture on the sides is lost. Kinda like pan & scan, without the panning...

Okay, the 480 x 480 thing is kinda weird. I am pretty sure the limit is actually 480 x 480 pixels= 230,400. So if you want to rip a widescreen movie you can do 640 x 360 (which is actually exactly 230,400 as well), or adjust a bit so you're not over 230,400. For TV aspect ratio, you can't go as high as 640 pixels wide. I have successfully played 640 x 360 content on my iPod, so I know that works (not sure of exact y resolution, but it was pretty close- maybe 640 x 320).

You don't need to add black bars or anything like that, the iPod will display the content correctly. Let's say you rip a movie at 640 x 360. The iPod will show a letterbox image with proper proportions. You can also adjust the settings so it 'magnifies' the image so there are no black bars, but picture on the sides is lost. Kinda like pan & scan, without the panning...

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thank you madmax. its just sad that you had to post this info again. people dont seem to search the threads around here. this has been posted for days now. there are MULTIPLE threads on this site about this and a new one seems to pop up every day asking the same questions over and over.

So far, I've just done some testing with HandBrake on DVD's. For DVD's, that is very easy to use, with only a couple of settings to use.

H264 can only be 320 x 240. It is a more efficient codec than MPEG4, but takes more HP to encode and decode. So for 320 x 240 video, you might get better image quality:size ratio with H264, but it seems to take much longer to encode, and there are some unclarified issues with compatibility right now (which in the next few days will get solved.)

For fater and still good quality 320 x 240, MPEG4 is pretty close in quality and is faster to create videos. For larger sizes, MPEG4 is the only option (and works quite well.) Ripping DVD's with HandBrake to 640 x XXX is really easy. For 2.35:1 movies, you can actually go to 720 x 306, which is essentially DVD resolution.

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